I was surprised to notice I made the front page of the 11/5 edition of the Weekly.Unfortunately it was not in a nice way — “Suspicious strangers reported in town.”

The third report mentioned in this article is about me. I found the stray dog near Mack´s Corner, I took her in over the weekend and made every possible effort to find the owners.

You can probably still see some of the posters I made at stores around the area. I won’t bore you with the story of the dog, but it turned out she had been abandoned and we ended up taking her to the shelter.

This letter is about the behavior of some neighbors northeast of Leota Junior High when I walked the dog while trying to find the owner.

At one the houses there was someone obviously inside who did not come out.

Then at the house where the police report came from, this lady did not even come out and was somewhat rude, answering in monosyllables and suggesting I “report the dog to the police.”

I really did not expect to be the subject of one of those reports. I’ll concede I had not shaved that day and was not wearing my best Sunday clothes.

The cherry on the top occurred the next day when this lady and her husband (I presume) who were driving on 168th Avenue, stopped and snapped a picture of me.

I really hope I won’t be the first Google hit for “Woodinville Burglar.”

I feel sorry for the nice neighbors in the area –particularly the older man working on his garden and the young woman bringing in her horse, both of whom nicely tried to assist me and unfortunately had to deal with such rude neighbors.

Your Woodinville neighbor,

Alejandro López Baragaño

WATCH FOR DEER

Two weeks ago, a yearling buck deer was hit in the hind legs by a car. He managed to get as far as my backyard and then died.

The dead deer was found the next morning.

There are many deer in this part of the county and I have seen many of them crossing the road and jumping over fences.

I’m asking the county to put up “Watch for Deer” signs.

Let’s all be careful and not drive too fast up on Hollywood Hill.

Helen McMahon, Woodinville

AN OPEN LETTER TO NORTHSHORE CITIZENS:

Much has been made of the Northshore Education Association’s endorsement of me and their donation to my campaign to help me get my message out.

While the amount was unusual, it was legally given and correctly and openly disclosed to the Public Disclosure Commission.

I believe the association chose to endorse me because I view them as allies rather than adversaries in the work of educating our children.

In Washington state, unions are a reality, and I think it’s in our students’ best interest for us to work as collaborators.

The teachers’ union is peopled by those who teach our children (many are also Northshore parents) and we are so fortunate in our district to have passionate and gifted educators dedicated to that work.

I have not made promises to anyone outside the boardroom in the past 5 1/2 years and I won’t in the future should I be re-elected (ballots are still being counted).

I believe that the strength of a 5-member board lies in having 5 different voices, based on 5 different perspectives, carrying on a discussion in the boardroom and coming to a decision based upon consideration of those differing points of view.

I have built my understanding of district operations, layer upon layer, one conversation and one decision at a time, based on input from students, teachers, parents, community members and staff.

Each perspective has been important to my past decision making and will continue to be in the future.

I know that our children don’t get another shot at a quality education. Their only opportunity is now.

It’s only by working together as educators, parents and community that we can preserve and improve a system that meets our students’ needs.

There really is no other choice.

Janet Quinn, Kenmore

A HEARTFELT THANKS

Homeward Pet Adoption Center has been a member of the Bothell/Woodinville community for 21 years. While we’ve always benefitted from the generosity of this community, as of this fall our incredible supporters have helped us move into a new facility more than double the size of our previous space.

We continue to be blown away by the generosity of everyone who helped us secure, build and prepare this amazing new space — from the pet-loving property owners, to vendors and companies who donated their services and products, to hundreds of families and organizations that sponsored spaces in the building, kennels and tiles.

Your donations are saving lives. The increased space gives us the ability to rescue, shelter and adopt twice as many cats and dogs every year.

And because we’ve been able to build this shelter from the ground up (for the first time in our 21 years), our new facility will allow us to provide the best possible care for homeless dogs and cats and provide an improved adopter and volunteer experience.

You are helping us make a significant impact for those less fortunate in our community with the expansion of Homeward Pet’s Low Cost Spay & Neuter Services.

Increasing our spay and neuter capacity helps to ensure a cat or dog’s potentially unwanted offspring don’t end up abandoned or in shelters.

And opening in late fall, our Pet Food Bank, sponsored by Doggy Haven Resort, will distribute pet food and supplies to those local pet owners who love their pets dearly but are struggling to make ends meet.

Your gifts are inspiring so many more pet owners and pets alike and we truly appreciate all of the support.

We are celebrating our grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 17, with the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce and Deputy Mayor Jeff Glickman. The celebration continues all weekend, with tours during our adoption hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

Join us to celebrate our grand opening, we’d love to show you the shelter you’ve helped us build.

And please accept a HUGE “Thank You” from the cats, dogs, staff and volunteers of Homeward Pet!